our fearless leader in the windowsill.  what do you guys think of this picture?

ENGL 230 Great Narrative Works

Potential Questions – Exam 2

April 19, 2007

Past texts

Odyssey by Homer

Aeneid by Virgil

Inferno by Dante

“Ulysses” by Tennyson

Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Most recent texts

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

“My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

Each of the following questions is a potential for the exam. On exam day you will be given one of the following questions at random, and you will be expected to make a direct, concise answer.

YOU SHOULD CREATE ANSWERS FOR EACH QUESTION BEFORE THE EXAM AND THOROUGHLY PREPARE FOR ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS IN ESSAY FORMAT IN CLASS BY CREATING OUTLINES/CLUSTERS/ETC. You will not be able to use your notes/books/exam preparations during the exam, but these pre-generating answers will make your answer much more accurate (and your brief exam time less stressful). In your preparation (and on the exam) you should focus on generating a thesis statement based on the potential question; you will then be expected to support your argument with descriptive evidence. ***I REEMPHASIZE, IF YOU WANT A DECENT GRADE ON THIS EXAM, BE PREPARED TO USE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE AND MULTIPLE EXAMPLES FROM THE TEXTS TO SUPPORT YOUR ANSWER TO THE QUESTION.

1. In many of the texts we have read, “manhood” and masculinity have been frequent themes. Choose two of the three most recent texts and one of our past texts to tie ideas on the formation, maintenance, and/or fall of one’s manhood. Stress the symbols, metaphors, etc. that the author uses to show the characters’ transition through this phase. You must create a solid thesis, engaging all three texts, that makes a common central argument regarding the topic.

2. Choose two of the three most recent texts and one of your past texts to demonstrate how man’s idea of the good wife/bad wife is portrayed. How are these representations of women historically contextualized? Stress the symbols, metaphors, etc. that the author uses to show how this idea is embodied in characters in the texts. You must create a solid thesis, engaging all three texts, that makes a common central argument regarding the topic.

3. Choose two of the three most recent texts and one of your past texts to demonstrate how historic prejudice influences a character in each text. Stress the symbols, metaphors, etc. that the author uses to show how prejudice affects the character. You must create a solid thesis, engaging all three texts, that makes a common central argument regarding the topic.

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Hi All,

Unexpectedly, I need to cancel our class this afternoon (Tuesday March 27, 2007). My apologies. Please have Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye completed by Thursday's class. I will return your exams and papers at this time as well.

Go play some frisbee golf. Dammit.

Alice

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A reminder to all of you about the paper-- you must have a works cited page, and you must use MLA parenthetical in-text citation in your citing process. If not, your paper will be returned to you. The minimum number of citations is listed on your assignment sheet.

Another reminder:

As the syllabus suggests, if you earn more than three absences in our class, you also earn a letter grade drop. Several of you already have three-four absences. See the class attendance policy for more information: Attendance Policy.

Four absences = two weeks of missed class. For some of you, I have excused absences, but not many. Don't throw your grade away by missing classes.

ENGL 230 Spring 2007
D’Amore
Paper #1
Due: March 20 at beginning of class
(i.e. not accepted after 4:35PM)

The first European explorers to Yellowstone National Park believed that they had discovered “Hell on earth,” due to the boiling, sulfur springs, geysers, and crappy tourist drivers. For our first writing assignment you are going to create your own journey through “Hell.” These are the rules:

* Your paper must be at least eight pages in length, one-inch margins, Times New Roman size twelve-font. The eight pages do not include the bibliography, title page, or your historical perspective (see below).

* You must use at least three outside sources from scholarly journals that reflect on literature or literary figures’ views on Hell (literary criticism of Lowry, Dante, Virgil, Sartre, etc.). Additionally, you should cite from Campbell’s The Hero with A Thousand Faces. You need to integrate the sources effectively and guide your reader into the quote or paraphrase (do not simply toss quotes into your paragraphs. They should only be quotes that are pertinent to your paper; the sources you choose should be investigated for authorial ethos, credibility, and reliability). You should use MLA format, with attached bibliography and parenthetical in-text citations. If you need help with citations, you should visit Purdue’s Writing Lab in HEAV 226.

* Your Hell must include at least nine levels, as Dante’s does, and those levels should have sub-levels. You will also need a guide (only rule: Britney Spears and/or Paris Hilton cannot be your guide). Do not just list the created levels and those you place there; you should write creatively, and your language and narrative should flow. You should also reflect on the mythology we read, and Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces. You must create symbols which reflect the levels and their punishments.

* While writing your paper, you should consider Hell from various historical and religious viewpoints: the Chinese Di Yu, Hindu Naraka, Catholic Hell (venial, temporal, mortal sin), Augustine of Hippo’s ideas on hellish punishments, the Hebrew Gehenna and Sheol, the Islamic Jahannam, the Japanese Yomi, Egyptian Duat, Welsh Annwn, Buddhist Naraka, Plato’s myth of Er, Dante’s contrapasso, and Virgil’s Mourning Fields and Tartarus. You can google each of these to find out more. Your paper should include a two-page summary including summaries of these ideas of Hell (IN YOUR OWN WORDS) and how they helped to form your paper.

* You should include a sketch of your version of Hell. Consider shape and size (of both whole and individual levels and sub-levels). The sketch can either be a physical drawing or computer-generated. This should be attached to the back of your paper.

* Rules are subject to change/enhancement due to whim(s) of the instructor.

Well this is me, looking very much like a homeless person.  This is because at this point in the semester I'm really broke.  I'm also projecting my future on myself right now.  I'm not really putting any hard work into school and i'm apathetic to everything and that also makes me think about how I'll be homeless due to my seemingly useless degrees.  I'm standing at a bus stop because i'm trying to figure out where I'm going and what I'm doing.  Notice that even though I'm homeless and crazy looking I still have cool hair!!

This image portrays me well.  I love nothing more than nights in a snowy woods.  Also, i am very laid back, perhaps to much so for my own good.  However when I do become stressed, it is quickly remedied by coffee or tea!

Well.. this is a great representation of how I look and feel I believe. I'm just exhausted from my classes. I have a lot of reading in all of my classes. I try to release myself by listening to music.. but this semester has just flown by and right now I am so in depth with all my classes I feel as if I have no time for myself or to hang out with friends as much as I want. That's why there is the beverage in my hand in the picture. Think of it as you want, but it represents friendship and good times. I hope by the end of the semester I will be able to balance friendship, school work, and other activities or engagements.
The hat is keeping my head warm. I love the snow back home, but it's really depressing down at Purdue when you can't walk around, or you have so many people who should not have a licsense. It's just depressing to not experience the snow like how I am able to at home with the snowmobile or fourwheeler.

Right now I'm just kind of hanging in there.. Trying to attend class and just keep going.

I could not figure out how to save and attach my picture.  But in the picture, I am completely bundled up with gloves and a scarf and waiting at the bus stop.  This is because I feel like that is ALL that I do.  I'm continuosly layering up to go outside and waiting for the bus.  My facial expression is tried, frustrated, and fed up with everything.  My hair is completely frayed and going everywhere.  I am SO TIRED of snow and I feel like it's never going to end.  A few of my classes are really frustrating and I'm trying to work I really hard, but sometimes I don't feel like it's paying off.  I'm ready for a break from classes and exams.  I can't wait for spring break so I can go somewhere without snow and not have to think about school for a while.

ENGL 230
Great Narrative Works
Potential Questions – Exam 1
March 8, 2007

Odyssey by Homer (O)
Aeneid by Virgil (A)
Inferno by Dante (I)
“Ulysses” by Tennyson (U)
Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry (UtV)
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (HoD)

Each of the following questions is a potential for the exam. On exam day you will be given one of the following questions at random, and you will be expected to make a direct, concise yet detailed answer. YOU SHOULD CREATE ANSWERS FOR EACH QUESTION BEFORE THE EXAM AND THOROUGHLY PREPARE FOR ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS IN ESSAY FORMAT IN CLASS BY CREATING OUTLINES/CLUSTERS/ETC. You will not be able to use your notes/books/exam preparations during the exam, but these pre-generating answers will make your answer much more accurate (and your brief exam time less stressful). In your preparation (and on the exam) you should focus on generating a thesis statement based on the potential question; you will then be expected to support your argument with descriptive evidence.

1. Throughout our readings, we have seen multiple interpretations of Odysseus/Ulysses. Citing specific examples in each of the texts, discuss how Odysseus/Ulysses is conveyed in these texts. Be sure to discuss how and why Odysseus/Ulysses changes in relation to the historical and cultural context and narrative structure of each text. Use O, A, I, and U.

2. Find a commonality among perceptions of and discuss the role of women in the chosen texts. Focus specifically on gender as a social construct and how it affects power structures in the texts. Cite specific examples from each of the texts to support your argument. Use O, A, I, HoD, and UtV.

3. Analyze and draw common connections between the uses of material, natural, and/or abstract symbols in the chosen texts (i.e. find a common symbol between the texts and discuss how it is employed in and between the texts and for what purpose). Determine how they are employed to build and resolve/enhance conflict and characterization, citing specific examples from the texts. Use O, A, I, UtV, and HoD.

4. Analyze and draw connections between the uses of sensory imagery (e.g. in setting, props, memory, characters, etc.) in the chosen texts (smells, tastes, touches, sounds, sights of the characters). Determine how they are employed to build and resolve/enhance conflict and characterization, citing specific examples from the texts. Use O, A, I, UtV, HoD.

5. Discuss in detail, citing examples from the texts, how punishment of the soul is interpreted and how it changes over time. Cite specific examples from each of the texts to create a critical evaluation of the historical progression of punishment and its historical context. Use O, A, I, and UtV.